According to Ned Davis Research, $100 invested in all dividend payers of the S&P 500 index in 1972, would have grown to $2,266 by the end of 2009. The same $100 invested in non-dividend paying stocks in the S&P 500 returned a negative 39% over the same period. The performance of dividend payers and initiators was even better, returning $2,945 on the initial investment in 1972. Dividend investors should utilize every edge they could find in order to deliver above average total returns. As a result, the findings of the Ned Davis study should not be ignored. The reason whydividend growers outperform is that they represent an elite group of companies which grow earnings, reinvest some of it in the business, and distribute the rest to stockholders. Rising profits equal rising stock prices over the long run, and rising dividends as well.

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Some of the companies which raised distributions over the past week include:

The Clorox Company (CLX) engages in the production, marketing, and sales of consumer products in the United States and internationally. The company raised dividends by 10% to 55 cents/share. This was the thirty-third consecutive year of dividend increases for this dividend aristocrat. The stock yields 3.40%. (analysis)

First Financial Corporation (THFF) through its subsidiaries, provides various financial services in Indiana and Illinois. The company raised its semi-annual dividend by 2.20% to 46 cents/share. This dividend achiever has managed to increase dividends to shareholders for 22 consecutive years. The stock yields 3.20%.

Bunge Limited (BG) engages in the agriculture and food businesses worldwide. The company approved a 9.5% increase in the company’s regular quarterly cash dividend, from $0.21 to $0.23 per share. The company, which is a member of the international dividend achievers, has consistently raised dividends since 2003. The stock yields 1.90%.

Transatlantic Holdings, Inc. (TRH), through its subsidiaries, offers reinsurance capacity for a range of property and casualty products, directly and through brokers, to insurance and reinsurance companies, in domestic and international markets. The dividend was raised by 5% to 21 cents/share. The Board of Directors has raised the quarterly distributions of this dividend achiever every year since TRH became a public company in 1990. The stock yields 1.80%.

Price comparison of Crude Oil (CL) and the six oil majors (click to enlarge)

I’ve written previously about the problems with using ETFs as an oil proxy. We don’t need to get into all of that again, but the primary takeaway is that even though most energy ETFs are composed exclusively of oil derivatives, the funds themselves track the price of their benchmark poorly, especially when said benchmark is in contango.

No, I’ve always been an advocate of a more direct energy play: specifically, using futures contracts to invest in theenergy markets. Of course, this has its own problems, particularly the inability to make long-term plays, due to futures contracts’ expirations.

So what’s a would-be energy maven to do? If the ETFs don’t track the derivatives properly, and the derivatives don’t allow you to invest the way you want anyway, what option do you have?

Enter the oil companies.

Oil companies, obviously, depend upon the price of oil to remain profitable. Intuitively, when oil goes up, so too should oil companies’ stock.

Realistically, however, you can’t expect the current price of a barrel of oil to be entirely responsible for today’s value of an oil company’s share price, as there’s obviously a bit of a lag, and these companies have other facets to their business. So, more accurately, a share price reflects that company’s ability to make a profit from oil, rather than simply to follow oil prices up and down. If you want to make a play purely in oil, an oil company may not be for you.

However, if you want to make a more nuanced long-term bet on the oil industry in general, while concurrently investing in oil itself, one of the oil majors could work … but which one?

First, take a look at this chart comparing all six companies with continuous front-month crude oil futures (marked by CL):

The most important thing to notice is that even though the charts are moving more or less together, it’s not that tight a correlation. I don’t need to break out the logarithmic chart to show you that the movements aren’t exactly coupled at the hip.

That said, the prices still do ebb and flow together. Now, let’s compare the prices one by one to see just how strong the relationship is.

Hedge funds will have to register with the Securities and Exchange Commissionnow. The Senate and House versions of the financial reform bill both require hedge funds over a certain size to register with the regulatory agency.

The Senate and House versions of the bill require all hedge-fund advisers over a certain size to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That would give the agency a greater window into the trading positions and investment strategies of hedge funds, typically secretive firms that cater to wealthy individuals and big investors.

“There will definitely be an increased level of reporting,” said Steve Nadel, a hedge-fund lawyer in New York, adding that the registration requirement “has the most immediate impact” of any hedge-fund-related provision in the bill.

Lawmakers also are aiming to give the SEC more discretion in its authority over hedge funds, likely leading to deeper scrutiny of the industry’s client base and trading partners, as well as its investments. Although hedge funds have successfully resisted much oversight, some regulators say additional scrutiny is needed to reflect the increased influence of hedge funds on financial markets. Source

The exodus of European firms from delisting their stocks on the New York Stock Exchange continue to climb. On Friday German auto maker Daimler AG (DAI) became the latest company to announce plans to delist from the NYSE. This follows the announcement of Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) two weeks ago to delist from the exchange. After these two delistings, just four of the large German companies will trade on the NYSE.

French insurer AXA SA already trades on the OTC markets. Hellenic Telecom (OTE) of Greece has also announced plans to delist from the Big Board.

According to a Wall Street Journal article, some of the reasons for the delistings from the NYSE include:

Many European firms view US listing as a liability

Foreign investors are able to invest directly via electronic trading platforms in their domestic markets

Listing requirements have risen on overseas markets

Cost of complying to U.S. regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has become burdensome

The prestige of a US listing has faded since Enron and the financial crisis

The daily trading volume of stock relative to global trading volume is lower for some companies